A key feature of the second phase of the Smart Airport programme at Hamad International Airport (HIA) that has been launched will be facial biometric recognition across all key passenger touch points.
The system combines passengers’ flight, passport and facial biometric information in a single electronic record at the self-check-in kiosk or mobile app. Only the passenger’s face is required for verification at the self-service bag-drop, automated security gate and automated boarding gate, making the experience fast and seamless, HIA said in statement..
The successful completion of the first major phase of HIA’s Smart Airport programme has proven to be extremely popular, with up to 40 per cent of Qatar Airways passengers preferring to self-check-in; and a further 20 per cent opting for self-bag-drop.
The swift process vastly improves customer experience and allows more passengers to be managed without physical expansion of the check-in facilities. It also empowers HIA passengers by offering total control of their journey from arrival to departure.
HIA COO Badr Mohamed Al Meer said: “We continue to invest in customer-centric innovative technology to provide fast, seamless and enjoyable travel experience to be the airport of choice for our customers. Our approach to identity management is unique and holistic, in that we foresee wide-scale deployment of biometric capability across both mandated and voluntary passenger touch points while addressing customer data privacy concerns in line with relevant local and international regulations.”
HIA’s Smart Airport programme is helping optimise operational processes and utilisation of resources and assets at the airport. For instance, the Service Delivery Measurement system enables real-time monitoring of passenger wait times, thus allowing tactical decisions to recover service levels by deploying additional resources when the wait time exceeds targets. The performance trends also help inform design decisions for future terminal capacity and passenger flows, a benefit to HIA as it begins the next phase of its expansion plan this year.